About the author

WHY ANOTHER BLOG ABOUT FILIPINO CULTURE?

Rediscovering the country of your birth is like finding a family you never had. At first you feel uneasy and disconnected, but little by little it starts to grow on you. In every family there is always the good, the bad and the ugly, but in the end they are still family; same is true about my connection to the Philippines.

For the children of the Filipino diaspora¹ there is a missing piece in the puzzle that we try to fill with associations within our adopted countries but which it cannot complete. The adaptability of the Filipino people is what allows us to easily blend in, chameleons that tends to be culturally invisible.

“Yellow on the outside, white on the inside.” ” Brown on the outside, white on the inside.”

It also doesn’t help that Filipinos are often also excluded in the context of South-East Asia, seen as being too Westernized. And again excluded from being Hispanic-American, perceived as a mere satellite whose umbilical cord is still attached to the East. It is hard to belong anywhere when you’re a half-cast.

WHO AM I?

I was one of those kids that thought that I was a shaolin monk, an orphaned Spanish mestizo, a reincarnated Indian prince, the lost daughter of Princess Diana, a decendant of the lost tribes of Israel, an alien from outer space, and many other ridiculous claims, while flat out rejecting the one true identity I have. It took me a lot of soul searching and a few years travelling the world to realize that I have a culture I can be proud of. My obsession with history and all the connections that can be made through it is a direct result of this. I am Filipino and therefore I am also many things.

I am a Filipino-Australian chef currently living a nomadic life working for an international entertainment company. One day I hope to start a farm that cultivates indigenous forest food products in order to to preserve the legacy of our forest peoples and add it to the sustainable future. My heritage is a mix of Sambal, Chinese-Kapampangan, and Spanish-Tagalog; my partner is an American Portuguese-Cebuano. I hope you enjoy my discoveries as much as I do.

Thank you for visiting.

¹ The Filipino diaspora is not a true diaspora but an expression of the nature of our scattering to the four corners of the earth.

I’m glad that you’ve learn something about Filipino culture and thanks for the nice comment. If you have anything that you’re curious about just let me know and I will try and create a blog about it. Happy reading!!!